.com | Trump: Only ‘stupid’ people oppose better Russia ties

President-elect Donald Trump says "only 'stupid' people or fools" would dismiss closer ties with Russia and he seemed unswayed after his classified briefing on an intelligence report that accused Moscow of meddling on his behalf in the election that catapulted him to power. "Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing," Trump said in a series of tweets.

Michael Gerson: The hypocrisy behind Julian Assange’s hero turn

Donald Trump's, Sarah Palin's and Sean Hannity's embrace of Julian Assange - who has made a career of illegally obtaining and releasing documents damaging to American interests - is not just a puzzling policy shift. It is the triumph of ideology over, well, every other principle or commitment.

10 most damning findings from report on Russian election interference

The US intelligence community concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an "influence campaign" to harm Hillary Clinton's chances of winning the 2016 election. The declassified reported, released Friday, determined with "high confidence" that Russia's interference - consisting of hacking Democratic groups and individuals and releasing that information via third-party websites, including WikiLeaks - helped President-elect Donald Trump win the election.

U.S election hack: Putin’s plan was to help Trump, says US spies

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered "an influence campaign" in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election with the goal of undermining the democratic process and denigrating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, a new, declassified intelligence report said on Friday. "We also assess Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump's election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavourably to him," it said.

In Trump’s ongoing feud about Russia, he says those opposed to better relations ‘fools’

A day after U.S. intelligence officials said Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election to help Donald Trump, the president-elect renewed his call for better Washington-Moscow relations and suggested naysayers are "fools" or "stupid people." Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Trump wants former Sen. Dan Coats to be intelligence chief

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday named retired Sen. Dan Coats as national intelligence director, saying the former member of the Senate Intelligence Committee was the right person to lead the new administration's "ceaseless vigilance against those who seek to do us harm." Trump's announcement came one day after release of a declassified government report on Russian efforts to influence the presidential election.

US intel report: Putin directed cyber campaign to help Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to help Republican Donald Trump's electoral chances by discrediting Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign, U.S. intelligence agencies said in an assessment. Russia's objectives were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate former Secretary of State Clinton, make it harder for her to win and harm her presidency if she did, an unclassified report released Friday by the top U.S. intelligence agency said.

As Trump talked of rigged election, Putin plotted to tarnish Clinton win

WASHINGTON -- While Donald Trump warned of a rigged election , Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign focused on "impugning the fairness" of an election that Hillary Clinton seemed likely to win, according to a declassified intelligence report of foreign interference in the U.S presidential race. The report by the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency said part of the Russian effort involved challenging the legitimacy of a possible Clinton victory.

US election hacking: Trump blames ‘negligent’ Democrats

Donald Trump says Democrats have shown "gross negligence" by allowing their servers to be hacked in the run-up to the 8 November presidential election. The US president-elect made the comments after a US intelligence report said Russian President Vladimir Putin had "sought to help Donald Trump win".

Report on Election Hacking Says Russia Plans to Do More 2 hours ago

The new, declassified report on Russian efforts to influence the presidential election has a troublesome prediction: Russia isn't done intruding in U.S. politics and policymaking. Immediately after Election Day, Russia began a "spear-phishing" campaign to try to trick people into revealing their email passwords, targeting U.S. government employees and think tanks that specialize in national security, defense and foreign policy, the report released on Friday said.

Trump Slams Dems for ‘Gross Negligence’ in Russian Hacking

President-elect Donald Trump slammed the Democratic National Committee late Friday for its "gross negligence" that allowed Russia to hack into its systems during the presidential campaign. The post came after Trump earlier Friday was briefed by U.S. intelligence officials on a report blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for directing the hacking of the DNC and other party operatives to try to sway the election to the Republican candidate.

US report: Putin ordered effort to help Trump, hurt Clinton

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a hidden campaign to influence America's presidential election in favor of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, U.S. intelligence agencies declared Friday in the government's first formal allegation supporting sensational claims that Trump and his supporters have staunchly resisted. The intelligence report, an unclassified version of a more-detailed classified account given earlier to Trump, the White House and congressional leaders, withheld the government's evidence to back up its assertions.

Intel report: Putin directly ordered effort to influence election

The US intelligence community concluded in a declassified report released Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an "influence campaign" aimed at hurting Hillary Clinton and helping Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. The campaign -- which consisted of hacking Democratic groups and individuals, including Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, and releasing that information via third-party websites, including WikiLeaks -- amounted to what the intelligence report called "a significant escalation" in longtime Russian efforts to undermine "the US-led liberal democratic order."

Putin ordered effort to help Trump, hurt Clinton: US report

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a hidden campaign to influence America's presidential election in favour of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, U.S. intelligence agencies declared Friday in the government's first formal allegation in support of sensational claims that Trump and his supporters have staunchly resisted. The intelligence report, an unclassified version of a more-detailed classified account given earlier to Trump, the White House and congressional leaders, withheld any evidence to back up its assertions.

Trump vows to ‘aggressively combat’ cyber-attacks amid intel report on Russia hack

US President-elect Donald Trump asserted Friday that hacking by foreign powers did not sway the US election, after being briefed on an intelligence report pinning blame on Russia's Vladimir Putin for a cyber-campaign to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House. After weeks of rejecting the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia interfered in the election, the president-elect accepted the possibility that Moscow was involved in hacking US targets including the Democratic National Committee.